Don't Get Charged for a Free Credit Report

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By law, you're entitled to one free copy annually from each of the three big credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). And they will fulfill that obligation, at no charge — but only if you order from the right Website. Log on to the wrong one, and you may wind up paying for costly services.

The centralized site you want is Annualcreditreport.com; there, you can order free reports from all three of the bureaus (or if you prefer, call toll-free: 877-322-8228). But be careful. There are sites with similar-sounding names, like Freecreditreport.com, that attract customers with the promise of a free report, then push fee-based services like identity theft insurance or credit monitoring at a monthly cost ranging from $9.95 to $29.95. The credit bureau sites themselves also try to sell you packages.

Are these services worth buying? Monitoring does alert you to unusual activity on your credit report — but if you don't like paying a monthly fee, you can use free reports to do your own periodic checkup (every four months, request a free report from a different bureau). You're looking for mistakes that can affect your credit score, as well as evidence of identity theft, says Evan Hendricks, author of Credit Scores & Credit Reports.

Once you place an order at Annualcreditreport.com, the credit bureau you specified will mail you the document or let you download it. Check it carefully — a 2004 study by U.S. PIRG (Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups) found 25 percent of reports contained serious errors. If something's wrong, it's up to you to contact the bureau and clear it up.